There are known in the prior art various arrangements for delivering tickets from a roll or from a stack of connected tickets. One example of such a system is shown in Verduin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,089. In that arrangement credit is established selectively to permit a customer to obtain a number of lower priced lottery tickets, for example, or a single higher priced lottery ticket. In response to a credit established in the machine, a push button or the like is actuated to cause a ticket or tickets from the selected supply to be moved past a cutter which is operated to sever the ticket or tickets from the supply. Tickets are advanced by means of a pinwheel which engages in perforations in the edges of the tickets. Cut off is accomplished by means of a cam driven lever and knife. While the arrangement shown in the Verduin et al., patent is generally satisfactory, it incorporates a number of drawbacks. No means is provided for avoiding the possibility of cumulative errors in the cutting mechanism. No provision is made for adjusting the mechanism to accommodate a range of ticket lengths. It is not completely automatic.
Riddle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,964 shows a mechanism for automatically delivering a predetermined number of stamps from a supply roll of stamps. Upon the establishment of credit aggregating the cost of the number of stamps desired, drive means, including a pair of drive belts, is energized to carry stamps from the supply roll toward the machine exit. A cutter mounted for reciprocating movement at the exit normally is biased to a position at which it blocks the passage of stamps out of the machine. When the drive means is energized, the cutter is moved against the action of its biasing means to a position at which an opening therein registers with the exit opening of the machine so that stamps can pass out of the machine. A photocell and light source adjacent to the machine exit count the number of stamps which have passed out of the exit by virtue of light passing through the perforations connecting adjacent stamps. When the number of stamps corresponding to the established credit has passed out of the machine, the drive is stopped and the cutter is released to cut the stamps from the supply.
The arrangement of Riddle et al. involves a number of defects which render it unsuitable for delivering articles such as lottery tickets or the like. First, no provision is made therein for accommodating a range of lengths of tickets. No provision is made for accounting for minor inaccuracies in the cutting operation resulting from a lack of tension in the string of stamps being pulled from the roll. Such minor inaccuracies may become cumulative with the result that the operation of the machine is entirely unsatisfactory. The arrangement is moveover relatively complicated and expensive to construct, thus rendering it unsuitable for a system in which dispensing machines must be installed at a very large number of locations.
I have invented a ticket dispensing mechanism which overcomes the defects of ticket delivery mechanisms of the prior art. My apparatus operates entirely automatically in response to the establishment of credit. It is able to accommodate a range of ticket sizes. It is more certain in operation than are machines of the prior art. It minimizes the possibility of minor errors in severing tickets which may become cumulative. It is rapid in operation. It is relatively simple and is inexpensive to construct.